Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the contributors to these statements. The importance of apprenticeships in society, both now and into the future, has never been more apparent than it is today. The action plan sets out new ways of structuring, funding and promoting apprenticeships to make apprenticeship more accessible to employers and learners. Expansion to date has widened the impact of apprenticeship to areas of skills shortage such as engineering, technology skills, logistics and fintech. Apprenticeship has undergone transformation over the past six years. There is a clear need to broaden the awareness of apprenticeship as a work-based route to internationally recognised qualifications and experience for people progressing in their career, school-leavers and career changers. Growing that message is a key feature of planning for apprenticeship in the coming years.

Employers in every sector are becoming aware of the depth of talent potentially available to them, the benefits of direct engagement with education and training providers, and the ability to leverage that opportunity to create engaged employees and to support innovation within their organisations. The simple fact is apprenticeship only exists in areas where there is a demand for skills. They are not approved otherwise. However, apprentice jobs can only exist where employers provide those jobs. The Action Plan for Apprenticeship sets out to support employers to engage with apprenticeship as a key mechanism for building a highly skilled workforce. People learn in different ways and we want to make sure everyone is aware apprenticeship can be a route to a qualification into the future. The actions set out in the plan will deliver clarity for school-leavers, jobseekers, and career changers on the wide range of available apprenticeships.

Furthermore, it will put a structure in place to ensure the apprentice population will more closely reflect the general population through targeted supports for under-represented groups and making sure there is ongoing representation from those groups to advise on specific actions into the future. Empowering people from under-represented and marginalised sections of society to take their rightful place in the system is vital to the success of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship can provide them with a clear route not only to a job but also to a valued qualification and a clear career path, instilling hope and direction that may not otherwise have been readily apparent.

The workplace is changing and the response to Covid-19 has accelerated digital transformation, changing the nature and capabilities required for occupations. Certain sectors were greatly affected, particularly aviation and hospitality, and they may take a long time to recover to anywhere near normal levels. Other sectors, including construction and the green economy, are forecast to recover more quickly and to expand. A significant number of people will need to reskill to find alternative employment and to prepare for the new employment opportunities that will emerge. Apprenticeship provides a rapid route to gaining those skills.

The action plan has been live more than a year and this summer I intend to bring forward a progress report on the plan, detailing achievements against the targets that were set to assess what gains have been made in evolving and transforming the apprenticeship system to meet the needs of Ireland's economy and society. Already, I can report that as a result of a €34 million investment under budget 2022 targeting the expansion of apprenticeship, including the development of new programmes and addressing the Covid-related backlogs, tangible progress has been made. For example, eight new apprenticeship programmes were launched over 2020 and 2021 despite the pandemic. These are arboriculture, equipment systems engineer, healthcare assistant, principal engineer, recruitment executive, sales, scaffolding, and supply chain associate. This year more were added: bar manager, wind turbine maintenance, and transport operations and commercial driving. This brings the total number of available programmes to 65 and will help address areas of severe skills shortage. Programme development has been approved for progression in other areas such as farming, horticulture, finance, manufacturing, construction, cybersecurity and ICT, and a number of others are at the initial proposal stage.

Despite these advances, information on and access to apprenticeship opportunities are limited for those who are not already engaged in apprenticeship. Fewer than one in ten registered apprentices had received information on their apprenticeship from career guidance counsellors in schools or other settings, reflecting the 2019 findings on the quality of information on apprenticeships in schools. By far the majority of respondents, 69%, had accessed their apprenticeship through friends and family or through their existing workplace or employer recommendations. A key feature of the responses from the survey of SME employers is a lack of awareness of the range of available programmes and how the apprenticeship system operates. SOLAS has a very successful Generation Apprenticeship employers campaign that supports employers in promoting and sharing their experience with apprenticeship, and we will continue that message into the future.

The Government is also ensuring the public service plays its part by delivering high-quality public service apprenticeship opportunities, underpinning the ongoing reform of our public service. An interdepartmental working group is developing another key action from the plan, a public service apprenticeship recruitment plan. This will set out ways to deliver a commitment to have 750 annual public service-wide apprentice registrations by 2025.

The pathway to delivering the intended growth of the apprenticeship system as set out in the Action Plan for Apprenticeship 2021-2025 has been informed by a significant and extensive consultation process.

In moving to a single model, the objective is to build on the strengths of both the existing craft model and the consortia-led model. The single model must be capable of delivering apprenticeships that can flex to accommodate the rapid rate of change driven by technological adaption and digital and environmental transformation, which is inherent in today's economy, while retaining the high standards required of Ireland's apprenticeship system.

The existing system has seen two major shocks in the past 15 years: first, the 2007 housing and economic crash and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic. While those involved in apprenticeship delivery have moved to meet the challenges presented on both occasions, the need for rapid movement has also highlighted the limitations of the more centralised craft apprenticeship system compared with individual consortia, which had more flexibility to adapt delivery and assessment processes to the changed environment.

The existing post-2016 consortia-led apprenticeships operate under a structure whereby the academic content of the apprenticeship is agreed by a consortium of education and training providers, employers and relevant partners, with the off-the-job training delivery managed by co-ordinating providers who are themselves part of the consortium. This approach has allowed for rapid realignment of off-the job training delivery, allowing in turn for apprenticeships to continue insofar as possible during the Covid-19 period, proving resilience and flexibility under testing conditions. Apprentice occupational profiles, including Quality and Qualifications Ireland level and duration, are approved at national level through the National Apprenticeship Alliance, NAA.

Over the period of the action plan, the dual system of programme governance will be replaced by a single distributed system of programme governance, known as the single apprenticeship system. Responsibility for curriculum and apprenticeship content will be placed close to where activity takes place. This will leverage the core strengths of education and training providers, employers and partners who are immersed in their respective industries. It will also foster the integration of apprenticeship within the quality assurance arrangements of the educational institutions across the further and higher education systems. The national apprenticeship office will provide support for the new apprenticeship consortia and will be informed by the NAA, which comprises stakeholder representatives and will have a subcommittee focused on advising measures for broadening diversity in the apprentice population. Therefore, while there is a move towards a distributed model of apprenticeship, there is a significantly changed and enhanced role for national level governance and oversight mechanisms.

As to when the training backlogs will be cleared, the situation is being monitored on an ongoing basis as a priority for SOLAS as we continue to add more training capacity and training staff and to apply emergency measures. At the end of April, there were 3,616 electrical apprentices, 1,162 plumbing apprentices and 844 carpentry apprentices awaiting their next phase of training. Provision and capacity on these three programmes have been increased by 50% on 2019 pre-pandemic levels to address this and to ensure that apprentices are trained as speedily as possible.

Apprenticeship is at the forefront of an integrated tertiary education and training system, helping to break down distinctions between the further education and training and higher education systems for learners and paving a route to a tertiary education and training system that delivers a range of opportunities suited to differing learning styles and interests. The action plan will deliver structural reform that ensures the apprenticeship system of the future will deliver a more responsive and visible offering to learners and employers.

It is an exciting time for apprenticeship. We are at the cusp of really embedding work-based learning within our education and training system as a clear and transparent offering that is available right across the economy. This is happening at a time of radical change for our country. Employers seeking to engage with apprenticeship will be able to do so in a straightforward and user-friendly way. Apprenticeships will be available, accessible and seen as a real and substantive option for those who learn best by doing and-or who may wish to earn while they learn. By 2025, regardless of the sector, apprenticeships will be a clear choice for people looking for new careers, qualifications or return-to-work options across all areas of the economy. We want apprenticeships to be at the heart of the conversation when employers look for ways to recruit staff. A minimum of 10,000 new apprentice jobs will be available each year and will be filled by learners of all ages and experience. At least 750 of those positions will be in the public sector.

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